Full disclosure upfront: We received copy of Megatooth thanks to Fans Hobby for photography and review. However, I will still do my best to provide an unbiased review, as it is never my desire to mislead my customers and fellow fans. The level of trust you assign to that statement, of course, is up to you. As a disclaimer, the figure we have received is a product sample, and is not entirely final. So any flaws with the figure may not be present on release. This is assuredly NOT a toy for kids, as the claws are fairly sharp (though not hazardously so), so be aware of that. Also, the official product photos depict him with a red gun, however, the sample we received, and the final product, will both have the gun in white, to be accurate to the original toy. This copy does seem to have the "filler" panels on the mandibles pop out at times. Our contact has stated that this piece is to be glued in place during production. Overview: Like Archenemy, Megatooth is a very impressive figure coming out of the box. About the same size as Archenemy (a head shorter, but bulkier), Megatooth should fit right in with any Masterpiece collection. He does have a very stocky look and feel to him, but this seems appropriate for a Monsterbot, even though the robot mode of the original was comparatively slim. I can't comment on the packaging here, as that was not ready for these samples. Likewise, the instructions we received were preliminary and subject to change. Presumably, the box and trays will be similar to Archenemy. The figure is molded in off-white, yellow, a reddish-brown, and a slightly pale red, very similar to the original Repugnus toy's colors. Like Archenemy, he features some nice die-cast metal content, including the entire foot/toe-claw portions, and the monster-mode claws. As the monster claws are fairly thin, this is welcome, and should help keep them from breaking easily. Articulation, Sculpt, & Paint: Articulation is excellent, and very much in the Masterpiece style, with a focus on sturdy ratchets, hinge, and swivel joints. The head can look up and down, and turn as expected. Despite the high shoulders around the head, the design is made to allow for full rotation. The antennae on the side of the head can also be tilted backward and forward, which is a big help in the transformation process. The shoulders feature a front/back ratcheting swivel that makes a super satisfying "clicky" noise, and an up/down hinge. A bicep swivel rests just above the upper side of the double elbow hinge, both of which ratchet in a very satisfying manner, and a swivel wrist attaches the hand. The hand it the same sculpt as the one used on Archenemy, and is clearly derived from the MP-10 hand design. It features movement at the base of all four fingers, with the middle, ring, and pinkie fingers joined as a single unit, the same as MP-10, and an extra middle knuckle joint on the index finger, again, just like MP-10. Like Archenemy, the weapon slots into the hand securely using a dovetail slot between the thumb and palm. There is a very extensive "crunch" articulation between the chest and abs (due to the transformation scheme), and a waist swivel. The hips feature a hinge and swivel combination that ratchets in all directions, with a thigh swivel just below on the legs, and double knee joints also ratchet solidly on both ends. The feet have a front to back hinge located at the base of the shin, and a very flexible ball joint in the top of the foot, allowing for an excellent range of motion. All of the jointing feels very sturdy and reliable, and I don't anticipate there being much in the way of problems with sagging or inability to hold poses or support weapons with extended arms. Between these two figures, I think we get a very good idea of what will be considered the base level of "standard" robot mode articulation we can expect, at a minimum, on future releases. The figure retains much of the robot mode articulation in robot mode. The monster head can tilt and turn, the lower knee joints and hip joints are still utilized, as well as both ankle joints. Thigh swivel in monster mode is possible, but will pop the thigh/shin panels off of one of their guide tabs, which is easy to fix. The feet gain a new articulation point at the base of the toe claws, where they fold down for transformation. The figure also retains the waist swivel and a lot of the "crunch" functionality as well. Ratcheted front/back swivels and an up/down hinge are revealed in the arms, along with double hinge elbow joints and a hinge joint at the base of each claw. Finally, the mandibles can open and close a short distance, and the jaw opens and closes, with hinged areas in the "backpack" allowing for it to move so it doesn't hinder the motion of the head. Like Archenemy, the sculpt of the figure has a lot of simple detail that doesn't make the figure look busy, while still giving it visual appeal. The paint is likewise excellent, following the sculpt very cleanly, with good, clean edges and solid coverage. No fuzzy edges, overspray, thin spots, patching, or other flaws are evident that I can find on this copy of the figure. Small shapes and details are extensively painted on the figure, giving the impression that he is perhaps meant to be an experimental subject of some kind. Both panels of his chest have markings reading "MB-02", and both his thighs and shoulders (front and back, on the shoulders) have very tiny, intricate (though unique) markings reading "Megatooth". The name is also marked on the front of the hips, albeit misspelled as "Meagtooth", oops! The rep has been notified, but it is apparently too late for them to correct it on this run of the figure. The thighs also have markings reading "Monster". The shins feature markings with the text "Fans Hobby", and the tops of the feet read "Master Builder". There is also some white marking on the wrists, and extensive black deco on recessed areas in the forearms, shins, shoulders, the chest panels/monster forearms, and on the front of the hips, adding some nice contrast to the bright coloration of the figure. The robot head features a yellow face (painted, a different shade from the helmet's plastic color), blue optics which stand out nicely, and black detailing on the helmet crest. The monster head features very nice, almost iridescent green on the eyes, as well. Accessories: As with Archenemy and the original toy, this figure comes with his one signature accessory, his rifle. The rifle is molded in the same off-white as parts of the figure, and nicely detailed. Transformation: Like Archenemy, transformation is simple, and fairly intuitive. Like many official MP figures, this one essentially replicates the transformation of the original toy, but with some added twists and turns that improve both modes. Transformation for this figure also takes about 12 steps, depending on how you count them, and should not take long at all. The monster mode is again somewhat stockier than the original toy, but this is still not a bad thing. The color scheme again mirrors the original toy very accurately, with the dark reddish-brown of the monster lower legs being exposed now, and the off-white of the robot thighs hidden beneath the brighter red of the shin panels. The monster's face expression, at least to me, looks weirdly happy, as if he enjoys his alt mode very much, and I found it hard not to pose him in ways that made him look gleeful at monster-ing about fighting Decepticons. Final Thoughts: Like his series-mate, Archenemy, this is a big figure, and feels to be of terrific quality. I would not hesitate to recommend this figure to anyone, and would absolutely feel it is worth the MSRP. Fans Hobby has been terrific about answering questions related to these figures as well, and I expect they will provide good support for any issues that might crop up in a copy of their figures. Based on their first two figures, I really feel that we have a possible new top-tier third party company stepping into the arena.
Fans Hobby are a new company and their first offerings in their MasterBuilder line of Masterpiece-scale toys are MB-01 Archenemy and MB-02 Megatooth. The latter is the focus of this article, and I’m going to waste no time in giving you my assessment of it: Fantastic. I have a test shot which seems pretty near production ready, and I love it. I have Archenemy too and that’s also blindingly good, so for their first efforts on the 3P market, I am rather wowed by this company so far. Fans Hobby MasterBuilder MB-02 Megatooth | Source Blog (<- click to read review) All the best Maz
